Argentina’s State-Owned Energy Company Moves Into Crypto Mining

An undisclosed foreign crypto mining firm is receiving power from YPF, Argentina’s state-owned energy provider, the company announced. According to YPF Luz CEO Martin Mandarano, the company’s renewable energy division started a 1 megawatt (MW) pilot operation three months ago that uses waste gas from oil production to generate electricity. Crypto Mining From Discarded Resources The project is situated in Vaca Muerta, a region in southern Argentina famed for its shale gas and oil potential (Dead Cow). Before the end of the year, the company intends to open a second pilot, this one measuring 8 MW. “We started to develop this generation pilot for cryptocurrency mining with a vision of sustainability and business from flare natural gas, which cannot be harnessed during exploration and at the beginning of the production of an oil field,” Crusoe Energy Uses Flared Natural Gas For Crypto Mining Crusoe Energy, a privately held U.S. firm, is the first to use discarded natural gas as a power for bitcoin (BTC) mining, after securing funding from the sovereign wealth funds of Oman and Abu Dhabi. The company announced its expansion in two nations in June. The OIA and Mubadala participated in the $350 million investment round that Crusoe disclosed in April. The Denver-based miner will initially establish a branch in Muscat, the capital of Oman, and Abu Dhabi shortly after as part of the expansion. Crusoe will hire roughly eight field worker...